STUSSY: How did the book come about and how long did it take to put together?
TODD: It was a subject I knew a lot about first hand. I would sit and watch subway trains, studying the pieces as a young kid. During jr high I became a part of if myself, I slowly met other writers throughout the city and learned about the history. So much work was erased and forgotten that I still learned new things, it's like archeology. The book took about two or three years with a lot of off and on.
DAVID: It was right before Christmas 2003; I was in Thailand when Todd first contacted me with the idea. I thought it sounded great. I knew he was onto something and was excited to be a part of it.

STUSSY: How hard was it to find all the artists in the book?
TODD: That was sometimes difficult because some had disappeared from the scene in the early 80's, so there was a bit of tracking down. Also we had some luck with people re-emerging at the right time. We managed to get a lot of good material and interviews with most every one we set out to.
DAVID: We really did get lucky on a few occasions. In the end, considering how many people were actually able to talk and get stuff from, it wasn't too bad.

STUSSY: Any funny stories about tracking down a specific artist?
TODD: Yes, actually Skeme is in the military, or was when I interviewed him. I think he's been there serving since the 80's. So I called the army base to ask for him and his name happens to be Ali Jihad.
DAVID: Nothing too out of the ordinary.

STUSSY: You're earliest memory of the trains? The first character you noticed growing up?
TODD: I remember a Yosemite Sam and I think Lee did it, but it was one of my first times on a train with my mom. The first time I studied a character was something Skeme did. I copied it into my notebook as best I could as it pulled into the station and left, which is about half a minute.
DAVID: My family lived above a G train stop in Brooklyn (it was the GG train back then). We took the subway pretty regularly. I think kids under the age of 5 still ride free. The subway is a part of many of my early memories of growing up in Brooklyn. The first characters I remember seeing were the 2 guys from "Mad Magazine's" Spy vs. Spy. It was painted on an elevated 7 train station in Queens. I was pretty young... I was also pretty psyched.

STUSSY: Anything you learned from doing this book?
TODD: Other than making a book is exhausting? Yes, I learned things any time I talked to the older guys, so much went on. I think one of my favorite fun facts is that Chain3 had a garage band.
DAVID: There were lots of interesting bits of information I picked up a long the way. One thing I found surprising was just how much quality subway graffiti Skeme managed to produce in a relatively short amount of time.

STUSSY: Favorite characters?
TODD: Personally for me, Tack FBA's shark, because it had an impact on me when I was starting out, but I'm a huge fan of Blade and Doze too. There are so many favorites to choose from.
DAVID: I've always liked Lee's stuff; he was myth like when I was a kid. Even guys that didn't write would talk about him. I'm a big fan of Skeme's stuff, Noc167, Doze, Tack, Seen, Kel... Bode's lizards are dope.

Mascots & Mugs is in bookstores now. To celebrate its release, Stussy has commissioned 4 of the artists featured in the book to put their famous characters on limited edition tee shirts. Daze, Doc, Tack and Blade are all legendary graffiti artists who made a name for themselves hitting up trains. These special tee shirt designs will be released on Friday, November 23rd at Stussy LA, Stussy NY and Stussydirect.com.